Just heard Jonas calling for me. I went in (after finding Brenna up, coloring, two hours past her bedtime).
Jonas: “Daddy, *yawn* I have *yawn* two questions *yawn*.”
Me: “Okay.”
Jonas: “Where *yawn* is my DS? *yawn* I won’t play it. *yawn* I just want to look at it. *yawn*”
Me: “It’s in our room. You can play it in the morning.”
Jonas: “Okay. My second question is *yawn* is *yawn* is *yawn* is *yawn* is *yawn* is *yawn* is *yawn* is *yawn* is…”
Me: “Why don’t you tell me in the morning.”
Jonas: “…*yawn* is *yawn* is it morning time yet?”
Me: “Sigh.”

I was cleaning Jonas’s room this morning and came across this picture (which, I assume, he made in Primary). All I can say is that the kid in the picture does not look particularly pleased to be a child of God. In fact, he looks like he’s downright terrified.

Brenna and Jonas have discovered Power Rangers on Netflix (oh, dear). They’ve only watched a few episodes so far, but I think they’ve got the formula down. Brenna was watching the Rangers battle the monster of the week. She said, “Now the monster will get really big, and the Rangers will turn into a giant robot.” Yep, she’s already figured out the show.

Then, during the “climactic battle,” she wandered into the kitchen for a moment. “They’re about to defeat the monster,” I said. “You’re going to miss it.”

“Oh, yeah,” she said, disinterestedly glancing at the television. “They always do that.”

I went ice fishing with the Elders Quorum on Saturday. I’ve never been before, and it’s something I’ve wanted to do since moving here to Wisconsin. I caught my first fish: a 26-inch northern pike (26 inches is the size limit; anything smaller has to be thrown back). The ward mission leader, an accomplished outdoorsman (all of the tip-up traps and other fishing paraphernalia were his) filleted the fish right there on the ice, and I cooked up my portion at home. Even though only one other fish was caught and it was too small to keep, a good time was had by all.

Brenna, Jonas, and I beat Kingdom Hearts II this evening. I’ve only beaten the game once before, and I’d forgotten just how absurdly long the final boss is (even for a Squaresoft game). The kids got to bed late as a result, but they really enjoyed the ending. Brenna was especially pleased that the closing cinematic showed Sora returning the charm that Kairi gave him in the first game; she’s been wondering if that would happen (good memory!).

We’ve been playing KH1 and KH2 now for quite awhile, and I think it’ll be fun to play something else for a change. I’m thinking that Final Fantasy X might be fun for the kids, or perhaps VIII. They’ll enjoy the plots focused on summons. We’ve already beaten VII and IX, and I’m not in the mood for XII. After that…perhaps Chrono Cross, though I’m not sure I can deal with another incomprehensible plot after the two Kingdom Hearts games (especially the second one).

This morning, Brenna and I were studying manned missions to the Moon and robotic missions to Mars. We ended up at a fascinating image that puts the size of the Earth in relation to the known size of the universe. Brenna was blown away with how truly massive the universe really is. I explained that Christ didn’t just create the Earth; he also created worlds without end. “He created stars,” I said, “and planets and nebulae—”